Laughing and waving French flags, the atmosphere in the queue to enter Marine Le Pen’s rally was effervescent.
Chanting “Marine Présidente”, thousands had made their way from across France to the exhibition hall in the northern Paris suburb of Villepinte – a diverse area where the majority voted for far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, so it is far from a stronghold for Ms Le Pen's Front National party.
But that didn't seem to matter to those who turned out for the far-right candidate’s last major rally before the final round of the French presidential election on Sunday.
As queues formed in front of two kiosks selling sandwiches and hot drinks, one man said: “At least here they sell French crepes instead of kebabs.”Friends, families and young children were among the crowd, which was made up mostly of young people – some of whom were too young to vote.
Dressed in blue and red stripped T-shirts, a group of school pupils, aged between 14 and 17-years-old, were franticly waving French flags and boards with Ms Le Pen’s slogan “Choose France”.
“We are France’s future and this is what we want,” said one of the girls, from the wealthy area of Versailles in the south west of the French capital.
“To save France,” said another boy in the group, who was also too young to go to the ballot box. “Whatever is going on now cannot continue.”
Many echoed Ms Le Pen’s key campaign pledges including controlled borders and the revival of France’s political and economic sovereignty and security
Some of those younger activists, who reject the traditional left and right-wing parties, have found a place of their own within the Front National party by running for local offices across the country.
Marie Desmazieres, 27, a Front National elected representative for a region in northern France, told The Independent issues around French identity and the love for her country prompted her to take an active role in the party.
“There are many young people like me, who are holding public offices," she said. "Young people are very attracted by the Front National because it is mainly young people, who feel concerned about mass immigration. They are living it every day.
“The Front National also believes in young people because it believes in the future and it gives a place to young people. The party has trusted me by putting my name on a ballot paper and like me there are dozens of young people being elected into office for the party.
“Because of the traditional parties that have been in power for a long time, the situation in France is getting worse by the day. We are young and we want to try something else.”